Einhorn's Greenlight Capital Cuts GM Stake, Exits Time Warner

By Ezequiel Minaya 

David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital Inc. sharply pared down its holdings of General Motors Co. and regional pharmacy-chain Fred's Inc. in the second quarter, while acquiring more shares of department store Dillard's Inc. and selling off its position in Time Warner Inc.

GM remained among the firm's largest positions in the April through June period, but Mr. Einhorn trimmed the stake by 25% to 54.76 million shares.

GM resisted Greenlight's push to split its stock, and shareholders sided overwhelmingly with the auto maker. Mr. Einhorn had called on the Detroit auto maker to split its common stock into two classes: one that pays dividends and a second that would entitle its holders to all additional earnings.

The fund's position in Fred's was cut by 31% to 1.5 million shares during the period. The stock had enjoyed a run-up in price after it was invited to buy a large chunk of stores to address antitrust concerns in Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.'s plan to buy Rite Aid Corp. But the company's share price plunged when the merger deal was nixed in June. Shares in Fred's have declined 56% over the past three months and closed Monday at $6.45.

Among the fund's notable exits, it shed its remaining shares of Time Warner, ahead of AT&T Inc.'s $85.4-billion deal for the media giant.

Greenlight also cut its positions in hospital chain Quorum Health Corp. by 50% and performance-chemicals company Chemours Co. by 28%.

The fund increased its bet on the beleagured retail sector, upping its stake in Dillard's by nearly a third to 2.5 million shares. It also more than doubled its stake in Micron Technology Inc., which most recently beat quarterly earnings forecasts and offered a bright outlook for its business.

Among the fund's notable additions, Mr. Einhorn carved out a new position of 4.45 million shares in Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

Greenlight's positions were disclosed Monday in a 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a quarterly requirement for investors managing more than $100 million. The report indicates the number of shares held and the value of each stake at the end of the quarter.

Greenlight has been forced to pay back more than $400 million in clients' withdrawals at midyear, as more than 15% of eligible investors chose to cash out, people close to the firm told the Wall Street Journal in July. Greenlight, a U.S.-stock specialist, was down 2% in the first half of the year, while the S&P 500 gained 9%, including dividends.

--Rob Copeland contributed to this article

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 14, 2017 18:09 ET (22:09 GMT)

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